To Dust
by SpitfireUSN
Summary: After the events of Stoic, things come to a boil for the Task Force and no one is quite sure just who is pulling the strings any more.
1. CH 1 - Manipulation and all its Uses

**_Okay, so what I'm gonna do here is post this, the main story-line ending, and then post an alternate once this one's done. I'll be writing both at the same time, so updates might be a little slow, but when this one's done, the alternate will go up the next day, and its chapters will be either daily or weekly, I haven't decided yet. Thanks to lisa . dewaele . 581, Justagenericusername, and Coffee Monsta for your reviews on the last chapter of Stoic._**

 ** _Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher_**

 ** _~Spitfire out_**

"Snipers in position."

The mission turned into a blur. Going through it, it was drawn out and precise, just as planned. Sort of. They hadn't quite expected an ambush. But now, it was all fading away, blurring together into a few senseless hours.

"No!" Ghost shouted.

" _Traitor!"_ Alex screamed as he ran.

He bowled straight into Shepherd as the trigger was pulled and a bullet lodged itself in Alex's chest. He fell to the ground, a harsh grimace of pain plastered on his face.

"Ghost! We're under attack by Shepherd's men in the bone yard!" Price… he sounded panicked, "Do not trust Shepherd! Repeat, do not trust Shepherd!"

If only they'd been a moment earlier in warning them.

Alex's distraction gave Ghost enough time to raise his weapon and begin taking out the Shadow Company threats.

Shepherd was at gunpoint before long. He grinned, looking behind Ghost, at his operatives holding the two snipers, Richards and Williams, against them, forestalling any attempt at escape with pistols to their heads. Fear was written on their faces. More obviously so on Williams' face than Richards', then again, Richards had never been one to show his emotion.

Ghost looked back to see what Shepherd was grinning about and nearly dropped his weapon on the spot.

"You have a choice here, Lieutenant," Shepherd taunted, "I expect you'll make the right one."

Alex began pushing himself up slowly. Shepherd scowled at him and kicked him in the side, effectively throwing him back down and nearly on top of Roach.

Alex pushed himself up halfway again and looked over at Roach. He looked deathly pale, his skin had taken on a greyish hue, blood soaked his shirt underneath the Kevlar, and more blood trickled down his chin.

"You can't win here, Riley, you're outnumbered and outgunned. Surrender now, or none of you live," Shepherd threatened him with a gun to Alex's head.

Ghost's face hardened, he was only slightly disappointed Shepherd couldn't see it, "You recruited us because we're the best. Because no one else in the _world_ can do what we do, because we defy all odds, because we never stop fighting until the job's done."

Alex moved to take Roach into his lap. Archer and Toad both adjusted their grip on the arms on their necks.

The guns held at them were readied and Ghost took a steadying step back, "McKay, get Roach out of here."

Alex looked at him and then down at Roach and up at the gun at his own head. Ghost shoved Shepherd's gun arm up at the same time as Alex bolted, carrying Roach bridal style back towards the safe-house. Archer and Toad slammed their heads back into the noses of the men holding them and flipped them over their shoulders, taking their pistols as they went down and turning them on the Shadow Company operatives.

"You wanna take out the best of the best, you better be packing a bigger gun than that," Ghost commented, looking over Shepherd's shoulder at a couple of sharpshooters taking aim at Alex.

He pulled his own pistol and took two rapid shots to drop them.

The bullets whizzed by Alex, missing by mere centimeters, making Alex stumble in shock before he kept running. He made it to the safe-house, sweating and exhausted, and set Roach down in the bathroom upstairs.

He looked back at the sound of choppers flying overhead and then back at Roach. Alex frowned harshly, Roach was dying, he couldn't leave him. Alex shed them both of their gear, setting it all aside. He took a breath and leaned against the tub, pulling Roach into his lap, and pressing his hands over the wound in his stomach. He kept them pressed there long after he should've stopped, resting his chin heavily on Roach's shoulder. Alex was exhausted and probably close to passing out. He just had to hope that the others could handle Shepherd and his men.

Shepherd had been greatly annoyed by these soldiers' attempts at beating him and was now determined that they'd pay for it. The public would have their enemy and the public would have their justice. He took them all prisoner. The snipers, he knew, could communicate so very well just by looking at each other, it was nearly as disgusting as it was impressive. He had them both blindfolded, lest they were able to study his guards' patterns and form a plan without ever saying anything to tip them off. Riley on the other hand, was much more agreeable. He'd been through this before, he knew how things worked now, he knew that Shepherd was the one in charge of whether he and his 'friends' lived or died now and he wouldn't do anything to jeopardize himself or his teammates. He had taken extra caution with the snipers simply because they were crafty, observant, and most dangerously: had never been held prisoner before. Except for Williams, but that hadn't lasted long enough to be called real experience.

He ordered a team to search and clear the safe house as all three unconscious and restrained Task Force members were loaded onto one of the choppers that immediately headed out towards Site Hotel Bravo, the staging area for the next part of his plan. It was all going so perfectly, he'd manipulated Makarov himself into tricking all of Russia, they were all calling for blood, as planned, the attack on American soil would force them to retaliate to protect their homeland, it had gone to plan as well, and now, all that was left was to erase the evidence left on the DSM and in the minds of the Task Force. Although, who would believe men who were supposed to be dead over him, a General of the United States Army? Shepherd grinned, quite pleased with himself. Tomorrow, there would be no shortage of people enlisting, wanting to fight the good fight and protect their home. Tomorrow he'd be spoken of as a war hero.

Shepherd's grin widened a bit when he saw his men carrying the accident prone Sergeant Sanderson and speed demon sniper Corporal McKay, both unconscious.

"Did they give you any trouble?" Shepherd asked curiously as the two were loaded into another chopper, the one he'd be taking to Hotel Bravo.

"No, sir, they were both out cold when we found them," one of the soldiers responded, sounded rather pleased himself.

Today was a good day, things were finally coming to a boil. All that was left was to add fuel to the fire and watch it boil over.

"Take them to lock up with the others," Shepherd ordered as the cargo door opened to Site Hotel Bravo, "Interrogate them, find out _everything_ they know."

He had told his Shadow Company before the mission that the Task Force operatives were all traitors, war criminals, and conspiring against the United Nations. He was going to frame them for starting World War Three, and no one would ever be the wiser. The only people that would question it would be dead in a matter of days or even hours. Now he just had to wait. His men had their orders, they would throw the fuel on the fire and then Shepherd would reveal it to the public and that would be the final straw, it would be said and done, no turning back. Shepherd would be a hero to those people, the Task Force would be the enemy. What better enemy than one who was so classified even NATO didn't know about them. A Task Force unchecked was a Task Force most likely to conspire and turn on the ones they were supposed to be serving, trying to grasp more power for themselves. It was human nature. And the people would believe him when he told them as much.

These few lives were a small price to pay for all the ones he'd save.

When Alex woke up, he found himself in a cold, dark place he couldn't quite make out. He sat up slowly, still worn out and exhausted from pushing himself past his limits. He looked around at his surroundings. He hadn't quite expected to find himself in a cell. Let alone with Archer and Toad both blindfolded in one across from him. Archer was lying down with his head in Toad's lap, Toad's hand brushing through the older man's hair.

Toad looked up at him, hearing the movement, and sighed, forgetting he was blind. He continued brushing his fingers through Archer's hair. He'd been having a panic attack and the guards got sick of his screaming and knocked him out cold. Ghost was in a cell on his own, Toad wasn't sure where, he'd been taken somewhere separate he thought, but couldn't be sure, on account of being blindfolded. Archer would know, he knew everyone by the sound of their footsteps, he'd had heard Ghost's footsteps getting further if he was right. He was much too panicked and nervous too think though. Toad wasn't sure he could keep Archer clam and keep him from having another panic attack.

Toad sighed and pulled Archer closer.

He heard someone coming and looked up again. He heard a door being opened, but couldn't tell if it was his or the one across from him. He had his answer when he felt someone grab his arm and pull.

"Let me go!" he shouted, fighting back, grabbing onto Archer when he felt him being pulled away as well.

It was no use, he was dragged away and sat down in a metal chair with his hands cuffed behind him. The blindfold was removed and Toad blinked and closed his eyes tightly at the sudden and harsh light. His eyes slowly adjusted and he took in the room. There was a metal table just in front of him with another man sitting across from him, a file sitting on the table. Toad knew what was coming.

"Why?" The man asked simply.

… Or not? "Why what?" Toad asked in confusion.

"You know what," the man scowled at him.

Toad's brow furrowed, had Shepherd told them _he_ was the traitor?

"Shepherd's the one that turned on us!" He exclaimed, pulling against his restraints in frustration.

"He said you'd say something like that…" the man shook his head, frowning and opening the file in front of him to gloss over it.

"Because it's true!"

"Because you're desperate!" The man argued back, dropping the file and standing, planting his hands firmly on the table. He took a breath and straightened up, folding his hands neatly behind his back, "Question is… For what? Power? Money? Fame?" He looked at Toad expectantly.

Toad looked back incredulously, "If I cared about any of that I'd have gone into politics, not the military," he countered.

The man shrugged, "Things change. Maybe you weren't satisfied with the paycheck. Maybe you joined up thinking you'd be a hero."

Toad rolled his eyes and said nothing. They were fair points; anyone could pin any of those things on him if they knew how to manipulate someone, which, clearly, Shepherd did know how to do. Of course, that didn't make any of it true.

"So tell me, why did you do it? Why did you try to frame the General?"

" _What?!"_ Toad questioned, "I was never anywhere _near_ the safe house! How the hell would I have been able to tamper with anything?!"

"Easy to say… Can you prove it?"

"How the hell am I supposed to prove I wasn't somewhere I never went?" Toad questioned.

"By proving you were somewhere else."

Toad sighed, "My god you people are dense…" he muttered, "I was on the ridge, with Archer, spotting for him like I always do when the ground team breached the safe house. A few minutes into the download Archer and I had to move to avoid enemy fire. We moved along the fence around the outskirts and set up near the trees. We stayed there until your buddies came up behind us and attacked us and dragged us down to Shepherd."

"Again, that's easy to say… but can you _prove_ it?"

" _How?!_ This is a 'he said she said' situation, bud, there's no fuckin' way you can prove I was in the house, and no way I can prove I wasn't," Toad argued, "You'll just have to take my word for it."

"And why would I listen to a traitor? You're clearly lying to try to get yourself out of this hole you've dug yourself into. Shepherd's the one that told us you and your friends would try to frame him and that you'd say anything to try to seem innocent."

"Then why are we bothering with this?" Toad asked curiously, "Did it ever occur to you that maybe he's the one that's lying to you? Manipulating you just like he did me and my team? Did it ever occur to you, that when you stop being useful, he'd try to kill you off and call you a traitor? Just like he did us?"

"And why would he do that?"

"Fuck if I know! All I know is that he did, and I have _friends_ out there _dying_ because of it."

The man frowned at him and looked at one of the other men standing guard, "That's enough, take him back to his cell, we're not getting anywhere."

The guard nodded and tied the blindfold back around Toad's eyes.

"Rough them up if you have to," Shepherd ordered, "I want answers. What were they planning to do and who else was in on it?"

"Y-yes, sir," the nervous interrogator saluted and Shepherd walked away.

He sighed and walked back towards the cells, next on the list was the other sniper, the one the first one had called 'Archer'.

 ** _Whew. You have no idea how proud I am of this chapter, I really like it. Sorry it took me so damn long to get it up. My computer broke and it took a while to get a new one. Well, that's all for now, see you guys next time!_**

 ** _Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher_**

 ** _~Spitfire out_**


	2. CH 2 - Chess

**_Thanks a bunch to Coffee Monsta(FFn), Hudson(AO3), and BreakingRust(AO3) for your reviews (That's right, I'm shouting out my AO3 reviewers now too), I'm glad you guys enjoyed it :P Well, anyways, here goes chapter two. This is gonna be a fairly short story, so I'm gonna try to finish it before doing too much on Another End (although I am still working on getting that next chapter up and it'll probably go up in the next couple weeks if I can get out of the rut)._**

 ** _Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher_**

 ** _~Spitfire out_**

In all honesty, roughing up the surviving members of the 141 wasn't exactly _necessary._ More like a precaution. If it looked and seemed like they had been nothing but cooperative, they would almost look innocent, and Shepherd didn't want a shadow of a doubt in the minds of the people he would try to convince. A shadow of a doubt could become more, a lingering wonder, making them question whether they were prosecuting the right people. That would be dangerous, and something Shepherd wanted to avoid.

Although his man didn't seem keen on his suggestion of harsher methods. He had to wonder just what Williams had told him. Shepherd wanted as few people in this mess as possible, he would avoid putting him in the same position as the 141 if he could. However, if he had doubts about who was to blame, he would have no choice. Perhaps he should interrogate the 141 personally, keep them from sowing the seeds of doubt into the minds of his men.

This exact line of thinking was exactly what led him to stepping into the interrogation chamber just as the blindfold was taken off a struggling and very fearful Ian Richards. Odd, Shepherd thought, how a simple piece of cloth had reduced such a stoic man to a whimpering mess. He was wide-eyed and looking around in a panic when the cloth fell away.

"Sir?" Shepherd's interrogator turned to him, "Is there a problem?"

"No, no problem. I'll take it from here," Shepherd insisted, waving off any attempt at an argument before it had a chance to be made.

The younger man seemed relieved as the guards strapped Richard's hands into the restraints on the table. He left with the guards once they were done. Shepherd took in Richard's form carefully as the door closed and locked with an audible _clang._ He seemed much more at ease, now that the blindfold had been removed and his sight restored. Maybe it wasn't so much that he was nervous, that being unable to see made him feel vulnerable, and that unnerved him.

"Why?" Richards questioned, his crestfallen voice betrayed his stoic expression and posture.

Shepherd took a breath, walking behind Richards and planting his hands on the man's shoulders. He supposed these men deserved answer. After all, they would be giving their lives to get Shepherd his retribution.

"Five years ago, I lost 30,000 men in the blink of an eye… and the world just sat by and watched."

Archer swallowed thickly, he knew the tragedy Shepherd was talking about, he had just enlisted when it happened, Makarov triggered a nuke after leading several battalions of Army men on a wild goose chase. There hadn't been a single survivor. It made a sick kind of sense, Shepherd wanted revenge. On the world. For not lifting a finger in aid of the men and women who died or their families. At least, Archer hoped that was what had sent Shepherd along this path of destruction and manipulation.

"There was nothing that could be done," Archer insisted, keeping his voice level, "It was a _nuke_ what did you expect the world to do? There was nothing they _could_ do. Yeah they sat safe in their homes and watched, there wasn't anything else they could do about it, what was done was done there was no saving the men and women who'd died, they were already gone. If you want to blame anyone, blame Makarov, he's the heartless fuck that killed those men, not us. So why are you taking your anger out on me and my friends?"

Shepherd scowled. It was men like this, who were more than willing to simply let the disaster go unanswered, that had let his son and the lives of tens of thousands of others be forgotten so easily. His grip tightened on Richards' shoulders, enough that he was sure it would bruise.

Alex couldn't stop staring curiously at Toad after they brought him back. He seemed okay, other than being mildly annoyed and frustrated, but that wasn't what had him curious. He was blindfolded, and it didn't seem anyone else had been.

"Why are they keeping you and Archer blindfolded?" he asked curiously.

Toad looked in his general direction and shrugged, "Thought it'd be obvious. Archer and I are the most observant men in the Task Force and we can communicate with each other precisely without ever saying or doing anything that would tip off someone watching us."

"Okay?"

Toad sighed, "They don't want us studying guard patterns and mounting an escape. They're not worried about the rest of you because you'd have to talk or move obviously and it'd tip them off to your plans, making you much easier to stop than Archer and I."

"Why don't you just take it off?" Alex asked after a long moment of silence.

"They could come back any moment," Toad shrugged.

"And? Then you fight them."

"And then I'd lose," Toad countered, "Do you never think ahead? It's like a chess match, you've got to consider every possible move carefully and anticipate your opponent's reaction and counter."

"Never took you for a chess jockey…" Roach's strained voice came from somewhere in the same direction as Alex.

Alex pulled Roach close to him and pressed his hands over the worst of his injuries.

"I'm not…" Toad replied, "Arch is. Besides, it'll come in handy. Shepherd's manipulated us, manipulating everyone, making everyone think _we're_ the traitors," he stretched his back a little, working his shoulders, "Chances are he's playing it like a game of chess. We're the rook and Shadow Company's the queen. Queen takes rook," he sighed, "which means to Shepherd, we're already out of play and he's already checked the king."

"But we're not? We're still alive, still have a snowball's chance," Alex argued.

Toad nodded, "Now to figure out the lay of the board, and bring Shepherd to a check mate… Any idea where we are?"

Alex shook his head, but spoke when he remembered Toad couldn't see him, "All I know is that it's a Shadow Company base."

Toad nodded slowly, "I saw sand on the floor by the door of the interrogation chamber. It was hot outside, really fucking hot. Must be in the Middle East…"

"Site Hotel Bravo," Roach supplied, "I saw it when I was helping the Captain with some paperwork."

He was feeling much stronger now, much better, but he could feel Alex tiring out beneath him. Roach pushed Alex's hands away from his abdomen.

"Good, that's good Roach we have a location… Middle East, Site Hotel Bravo," Toad repeated, "Okay. Do we know where Shepherd is?"

He was met with silence.

"I take that as a no then…" Toad sighed.

"So, explain this to me, how are we the rook? Seems to me like we're pawns," Alex questioned.

Toad almost answered immediately, but stopped and thought about it. The rook was generally a backline means of forcing your opponent into a checkmate, which seemed to fit the way Shadow Company was operating. The Task Force was the opposite, they were more like knights, always on the attack. Which would make Shepherd the Queen. He was playing a game of chess. And only he could see the entire board.

Toad frowned, "We're pawns and knights, the pieces you sacrifice to get to the king…"

"I thought you said we were the rook…"

"I was wrong. Shepherd's the Queen and he's playing us all. The Queen in chess is the most powerful piece because she can move in any direction endlessly except for occupied squares. That describes his situation pretty well if you ask me…"

"So… who's the king then?" Alex asked cautiously.

Toad shook his head, "I have no idea…"

 ** _Sorry this is so short and took so long. Writer's block is a bitch. So, since it's been so long, I decided to just cut this one off early and get the chapter out :P Also, you should know, I don't play chess and I'm probably wrong about a lot of the strategy and stuff that goes into it, seeing how I'm terrible at chess, so just… idk suspension of disbelief? xD See you guys next time!_**

 ** _Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher_**

 ** _~Spitfire out_**


	3. CH 3 - Power of the Press

_**Omg I can't believe it took me updating Another End to get back to work on this omfg guys I'm so sorry xD Well, we're here again, and I'm really liking all the challenge and manipulation and strategy I'm putting into this. I've never written an antagonist's perspective before and I really feel like I'm nailing it. So, anyway, let's get to it! Thanks to Coffee Monsta (FFn) for your review. Only got the one on chapter two. Thanks for being awesome Coff'.**_

 _ **Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher**_

 _ **~Spitfire out**_

The guards approached a tired and bruised Archer to put his blindfold back in place. Archer gathered what strength he had to resist, even beg for them to not put the blindfold on him. They silenced him with a gag.

Few things unnerved Ian Richards. Missing an easy shot, the thought of missing in the field and getting someone killed, and being blind were the only things that could get a substantial reaction from the stoic sniper. Shepherd could use Richards' state of unease and panic to his advantage on stage tomorrow, when he showed the public their enemy. He would be hailed a hero for ending the war, revealing the 'sabotage' and 'dastardly' plans for wrapping the entire world into a communist society, crushing those that dared defy. Shepherd smirked to himself as he washed the blood from his hands. Having one or two of them worse for wear would make it look like they had put up a fight, make his argument more convincing than their truth.

Lieutenant Riley was next. He watched as the guards escorted Richards, still panicking, back to his cell. Maybe his cellmate would be able to calm him a little.

Toad was thinking hard on their situation when he heard the sounds of Archer's panicked breathing and terrified whimpers. Not too long later, Archer was shoved back into the cell. Toad was quick to feel his way over to Ian and wrap the lithe man up in his arms, rubbing his back in soothing circles as he whispered comforting words to him. Toad heard the muffled sound of Archer's voice and felt around his face, finding the gag and pulling it off.

"T-they didn't even ask me anything…" he whimpered.

"What?" Toad questioned curiously, "Ian, baby, what'd they do to you?"

Archer just shook his head, "Shepherd. He just… I don't know! He just started punching the hell outta me for no reason!"

Toad hugged him tight. At least they knew for sure where Shepherd was now.

"Ian, listen, I think we might have a strategy here, if we can figure out what Shepherd's play is. I think he's playing this like a game of chess, we're the pawns and knights, Shepherd's the queen, but we can't figure out who the king is."

Archer sat up a little, leaning more comfortably into Toad as he thought hard; he shook his head after a long moment, "It's not a who, it's a what. His endgame, he started this war and no one knows it, he wants to end it, and he wants everyone to know it."

"So.. He wants to be a war hero then..." Toad commented, "Why? What would make him murder his own men just to trick everyone into thinking he's some fuckin' hero?"

"Remember the disaster five years ago? 30,000 men and women died?" Archer asked.

"Yeah?"

"He was in charge of them. His son was among them apparently…" Archer explained.

"Oh… damn… That's rough…"

"Yeah well it's no damn excuse to go and murder a bunch more innocent men and women!" Alex argued from across the way.

Archer and Toad both nodded in agreement.

"Anyone know what happened to Ghost? Or the Captains?" Archer asked curiously.

No one did.

Archer sighed, "Then we wait. See what his next move is, and see if we can't get the lay of the board."

Toad shook his head, "I'm not sure about waiting too long, Ian, I think Shepherd's got us checked…"

"Not as long as we're alive he doesn't."

"What's our King anyway?" Roach asked curiously.

"Shepherd," Toad answered.

Archer shook his head, "Shepherd's the queen that takes the king. Our king is our endgame, _stopping_ Shepherd and making sure he doesn't get away with this shit."

"And how do we do that?" Alex questioned.

Archer thought for a long moment, "Roach. What was on the DSM?"

"Fuck if I know, I was too busy shooting for my life," Roach retorted in mild offense.

"If Shepherd wanted us all dead or vilified because he was afraid we knew what was on it, then it must be something damning," Archer theorized.

"Makes sense," Alex shrugged.

"So we escape. We get the DSM, decode it, and expose Shepherd for his treachery," Roach summed.

"That's right… First things first: escape, find Ghost, and nip the hell outta here."

Everyone looked at Alex, or in his general direction at least.

"What?"

Roach chuckled, "Go to sleep 'Lex, you're tired," he suggested, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Alex grumbled a little, but there was the sound of shifting as he got comfortable. As comfortable as he could be on the stone floor, anyway.

The next morning the Shadow Company men woke up their captives bright and early at six. They were escorted outside, all of them blindfolded and gagged, and pushed down to their knees on a mock stage. Their hands were restrained behind them and tied to hooks in the ground.

"Oxide?" Shepherd asked as his prisoners were secured and their guards stepped off to the side.

"We're ready sir," 'Oxide' responded after a moment, "Whenever you're ready."

"Good…" Shepherd commented and took a breath and gestured to the men standing behind the surviving members of the Task Force.

The Shadow Company men untied the blindfolds and pulled them free.

Archer and Toad blinked harshly and grimaced at the sudden light. The others hadn't been blindfolded as long and simply blinked hard a few times as they all adjusted. They looked up and down the line of their friends, taking stock of who was their and their conditions.

Ghost's eyes landed on Archer and he was suddenly very pissed off to see the sniper's swollen lip and bruised face. He fought against his restraints, trying to yell profanities at Shepherd through his gag.

Shepherd turned to look at him for a moment before turning back to Oxide who stood behind a camera and gave him a thumbs up.

Shepherd opened his arms in a wide gesture, "What can I say? I'm out of speeches," he chuckled a little, "I stand before you, to bring into light the real enemy." He looked over his shoulder at his prisoners. "Behind me, kneeling in chains, are the surviving members of the former Task Force One-Four-One. Simon Riley, Ian Richards, Christian Williams, Gary Sanderson, and Alexander McKay," He called them each out, pausing slightly after each, "These men and their Captains have been in league with terrorist Vladimir Makarov and were responsible for the planning and execution of the Zakhaev Airport Massacre. Joseph Allen was blind to their plans and what he was doing."

The members of the Task Force looked at him in shock and awe and Shepherd looked back at them with a smirk hidden from the camera. _Check mate_.

"Their Captains, John Price, and John MacTavish escaped my men and are still at large and no doubt still planning treachery. I move, that, instead of fighting a war waged by these traitors, we band together as one to hunt down those responsible."

Alex gritted his teeth together against his gag in a fit of anger and lashed out at the hook he was tied to with his feet. The extra power gained from his inhuman speed was enough to break his bonds and shoot him to his feet and towards Shepherd. He was oh so close to Shepherd when one of the Shadow Company men shot at him. The dart stuck in his shoulder and Alex stumbled, already slumping under the effects of the elephant tranquilizer. He fell to the ground, groaning curses at Shepherd through his gag before being dragged into unconsciousness.

Shepherd looked in time to watch Alex go down. In moderate shock, he straightened his collar before looking back at the camera.

"As you can see, these men are far more dangerous and skilled than your average special operations unit…" Shepherd commented, "It will take all of our combined power to bring the rest of them down and make them answer for what they've done."

With that Oxide stopped the broadcast and the Shadow Company men dragged Alex back to the others.

"What should we do with them sir?" one asked curiously.

"Back to their cells?" Another asked.

Shepherd thought for a moment before shaking his head, "No. They're still far too strong. Even hindered as they were in their cells. Take them to the posts do whatever you want with them, just make sure they're too weak to fight when you're done."

Archer and Toad looked at each other nervously, Ghost was too busy glaring at Shepherd, and Roach couldn't take his eyes off of Alex's still form.

Archer and Toad were hit hard on the backs of their heads and commanded harshly not to look at each other. The Shadow Company guards approached the pair again with their blindfolds. Archer whimpered and resisted as much as he could, being held still by a man twice his size.

They were untied and guided in an armed escort towards their next destination, Alex was dragged behind them. The five of them were secured to metal posts embedded into the rock and forced down to their knees again. Alex had his feet secured to a spike recently hammered into the ground so that he couldn't escape again.

The Shadow Company operatives decided it was their turn to deliver some justice to the 'traitors' and spent several hours beating each of their captives senseless. It was noon before they took a break for water. It was blazing hot and they had already sweated through their shirts. One of them grinned and knelt in front of the barely conscious sandy-haired man that had been on death's door not too long ago. He held up his water bottle and Sanderson looked at it hopefully, desperately thirsty after his beating and the sapping heat. The Shadow Company operative laughed and tipped the bottle, spilling its contents all over the dusty ground. It dried up almost immediately and Sanderson almost looked heartbroken.

The others laughed along with their friend and started collecting their things.

"Wait," Ghost straightened up and gestured with his head at Archer and Toad, "Take their blindfolds off, please, it's not like they can escape, even if they had a plan."

One scoffed and started walking away. The others followed. Except for one, who stayed behind and knelt down next to Archer and untied his blindfold first, then Toad's.

Archer blinked hard and looked at him, giving him a small, thankful smile. The man walked away, jogging to catch up to his teammates.

Ghost looked around the group, "Is everyone okay?"

"Just fuckin' _peachy_ ," Alex growled, struggling to get any movement out of his legs.

"McKay," Ghost stared at him, "Stop. You're going to hurt yourself."

"Oh like you care," Alex retorted, pulling and pushing harder against his restraints, he growled in frustration, "I need to _move_..."

"What are you? ADHD?" Ghost questioned.

"Yes, actually," Alex snapped, glaring at him, "Got worse after I got my legs back. 'S why I can't shoot sitting still. I can if I have to, but I gotta burn a lot of energy after or I'll get real antsy," he shrugged.

They hadn't really had much room to move for the past twenty-four hours. It was no wonder Alex had been so snippy. He had energy he needed to burn and not being able to was driving him mad.

"How'd getting 'em back make it worse? I thought it'd get worse when you lost them…" Roach asked curiously.

"It's 'cause I have to store a lot more energy than I used to, now that I move so fast. Burn a lot of calories moving just shy of sev'nty-five miles an hour," Alex explained, "I don't understand all the science bullshite behind it, but I'm quotin' Doc here, it turns the potential energy I take in into kinetic energy and stores it the same way you store calories. Except when I can't burn it by moving, my body burns it by upping my heart rate, which raises my body temperature…"

"That… could be a problem…" Archer commented.

"Yeah…" Alex responded dully and kept pulling at his restraints.

"Can't you just like… tap your foot really fast or something?" Toad questioned.

Alex gave him a look, "I would if I fuckin' could. The hell do you think I did in the cell? Certainly wasn't runnin' in tight ass circles all fuckin' day now was I?"

The silence dragged on for a long time, the only sound was the wind and the constant clanking, grunting, and shouting of Alex still struggling to move. The heat of the sun beat down on the five men, sapping their energy and strength. Except for Alex, who most certainly had energy to spare despite receiving the same treatment as his friends.

"So… Archer, what's the plan?" Toad asked curiously, "We have the lay of the board now."

Archer shook his head, "Were you listening to a thing he said?" he questioned, "he's already won. That was his checkmate. If Russia agrees to end the war to hunt down Price and 'Tavish he'll be a war hero. Maybe even if they don't. It's too late, to them, we're the bad guys…. Everyone's gonna be calling for our heads..."

 _ **Woo. Getting down to the wire here. This is chapter three of five. I set up the Stoic Walls series for the books to have a five-ten-five structure. Wow you have no idea how many times I goofed trying to write that sentence xD Anyway. We'll be checking up on Soap and Price next time. See you guys then! (Also I'll have you know it only took me two days to write this chapter)**_

 _ **Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher**_

 _ **~Spitfire out**_


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